Rahul faced this setback following his poor form. In the two-Test series against the West Indies, he managed scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6 and didn't seem to be in any sort of form. Hence, Rohit became the prime opening choice of the selectors for the upcoming series.
The decision seems to have convinced former batting coach Sanjay Bangar as he believes the Indian team will be able to successfully chase down targets they haven't achieved in the past if Rohit Sharma succeeds at the top of the order in Test cricket.
“At the moment, there is no place in the settled middle order in the Test team. Opening will be a new challenge for him, since he has rarely done it in the longer formats. But the advantage is that he will get to bat against a hard ball with plenty of gaps in the field. He will also not have to wait for his turn to bat, which will save his mental energy,” Bangar told ESPNcricinfo in an interview.
“If he succeeds, his style of play will be extremely helpful to the team. It might result in being able to successfully chase down targets that we haven't achieved in the past, like in Cape Town and Edgbaston,” he added.
Considered as one of the modern-day greats, Rohit has not been able to cement his place in the Test side. The 32-year-old has played 27 Tests so far, in which he has scored 1585 runs at an average of 39.6. The swashbuckling opener, who has three double-hundreds to his name in ODIs, has been able to hit just three centuries in red-ball cricket.
However, the upcoming series against the Proteas provides him with the opportunity to score big and permanently cement his place in Test cricket as well.